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The Potential for More Same Day ACH Options

CU Times commented on the growth of same day ACH transactions as it nears its Phase 3 deadline on March 16th, the day that funds need to be made available to a recipient by 5:00 p.m. in local time. The growth of same day ACH is apparent in the reported numbers:

Growth in the use of same-day ACH is putting it on pace to hit 120 million debit and credit transactions a year, according to new data from NACHA – the Electronic Payments Association.

In 2017, there were 75.1 same-day ACH transactions totaling $87.1 billion, an average $1,161 per payment. December’s 15.2 million transactions represented a 51% increase over November, indicating widespread interest in the payment method, NACHA said.

To lock in continued success and growth, and in light of the low occurrence of fraud directly related to same day ACH, NACHA is considering two new changes. More processing windows for same-day and a higher per transaction dollar limit:

NACHA is soliciting comments on new proposals to add a third same-day ACH processing window, provide faster funds availability to receivers of same-day and non-same-day ACH credits, as well as raise the per-transaction dollar limit on same-day transactions to $100,000. The group is also exploring interest in ACH processing on weekends and holidays.

“Deferred settlement until Mondays (or Tuesdays on three-day weekends) can cause hardships for cases such as consumer payroll payments and bill payments, and accountholders might not have the best information available about their true available balances,” it said.

“Strategically, same-day ACH is a key component of NACHA’s roadmap to move the ACH Network forward for financial institutions and their customers. Feedback from financial institutions and ACH end-users already suggests that many organizations could make greater use of same-day ACH with changes to its features,” the organization noted.

Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group